


Player 2: Start

by thegreatbel_0



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, One-sided requited love?, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23525440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegreatbel_0/pseuds/thegreatbel_0
Summary: It's hard being in love with your best friend, but by now Kunimi's had years of practice. He's satisfied with what they have now, and doesn't ever expect his feelings to be reciprocated. So how is he to react when Kindaichi suddenly confesses his feelings of love for him?"I’ll do whatever it takes, if you give me the chance."“Alright. Try to win me over."
Relationships: Kindaichi Yuutarou/Kunimi Akira
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	Player 2: Start

Falling in love is easy, Kunimi could do it in his sleep. It’s the being in love that’s torture to him, as he lays on the futon staring up at Kindaichi’s ceiling and listening to the soft snores from a meter away.

Nearly every weekend, for the past few years, that meter has been the bane of Kunimi’s existence. That, along with every touch, every high five, every time they share the court in games or notes for class. Inwardly, he thanks Kageyama for being such a huge jerk in middle school to allow them to become so close in the first place, except for the fact that Kindaichi hated him so much, Kunimi didn’t think there was any room for him, outside of being an outlet for Kindaichi’s rant sessions. At least now, with Kageyama being less of a huge jerk and Kunimi and Kindaichi going to the same school and everything, they’re more like actual friends now. If only Kunimi didn’t have to wake up one day realizing he’d been in love with Kindaichi for probably years.

But it’s fine. So long as Kindaichi never finds out, they can stay like this forever, best friends united against the king, and Kunimi will be satisfied.

(He won’t be, he knows, but what other choice does he have?)

Kunimi rolls over towards Kindaichi and lets his eyes trace over his face, the slope of his nose, the relaxed slant of his brows, the way his cheek is squashed against his pillow. His arm dangles off the edge of his bed, and Kunimi wonders what would happen if he reached over and held it in his own, if they could fall asleep and wake up together with their fingers intertwined.

A loud snort and light grumbling cuts into Kunimi’s thoughts as Kindaichi shifts in his sleep. Kunimi freezes, as if his pining has somehow manifested into physical space to disturb Kindaichi’s slumber, and he holds his breath until Kindaichi settles and his snoring resumes with a soft smack of his lips.

It’s embarrassing, how endearing he finds that.

“Stupid,” he whispers into the night air, and rolls back to face the other way.

* * *

After so many years of useless pining, Kunimi would say he’s a master at hiding his feelings. It helps being the type that doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve, Seijoh’s King of Apathy. It’s easy enough by now: collect all those friendly touches and aimless conversations, wrap them up tight, and shove it deep into the back of his heart. If he’s feeling generous with himself, he’ll allow himself a tiny peek in the locker room when changing into practice clothes once in a blue moon, masking it as an indifferent sweep around the room, and then shove the guilt away into his heart as well.

He could win a medal for this. First place gold in unrequited love. A much better performance than whatever Oikawa and Iwaizumi’s little dance was.

Of course, life never likes to let things go the way people want. Kunimi is keenly aware of this fact as he stares in shock at Kindaichi’s red face.

“Uh, come again?”

“I said!” Kindaichi squeezes his eyes shut and yells, “I love you! W-will you go out will me?”

Panic makes Kunimi’s mask slip and he can feel a blush rising in his cheeks. He glances around at his other teammates and the spectators in the stands, including what feels like half their school, also in varying states of confusion and surprise. Kunimi doesn’t blame them. It’s not everyday that someone confesses their love right after a volleyball game like this. It’s also not everyday that Kunimi gets his feelings reciprocated in such an embarrassingly public manner. He grabs Kindaichi by the wrist and drags him out of the gym, bowing sloppily in apology to his team behind them. “Please excuse us.”

Kunimi drags them around for a while, until he can rein in his emotions enough to let go of Kindaichi and face him. They end up in a small, secluded hallway, far enough away from the crowds of people attending the tournament.

“Idiot! Why would you say something like that there? In front of so many people?” He doesn’t mean for his voice to sound so harsh, but he’s still a bit out of breath from their match and from running away from everyone so fast, and his heart is pounding.

“I’m sorry! Just— you looked so cool in the last play and it made me realize that I, you know…”

“Know what?” He’s probably being a bit mean with this, but he’s been dreaming of hearing those words come out of Kindaichi’s mouth and would really like to hear them again.

“That I l-like you. And you were right there being so cool after scoring the last point that I couldn’t stop myself from telling you.”

“In front of all those people? And our team?”

“Y-yeah.”

Kunimi really should stop bullying him like this, but he doesn’t know what else to do after such a sudden confession from his years-long crush. He should probably be ecstatic about this, and he won’t lie and say he’s not even a little, or a lot, happy. But…

“How do you know it’s not just the adrenaline? We did just win a match, after all.”

“Huh? W-well...”

Kunimi hates the way Kindaichi’s face falls, hates that he’s the one that made it happen. He wishes he could take it back, leap into Kindaichi’s arms and maybe kiss his face, but the years of practicing not to let any of his feelings show have formed a wall around his heart, and he’s too afraid to get his hopes up. What if they did start dating, only for Kindaichi to calm down after this and realize he didn’t actually love Kunimi? Or if this was some kind of sick prank?

But then Kindaichi recovers his determined expression and grips Kunimi by the shoulders. “I don’t know how I can prove it to you, but I’ll do whatever it takes, if you give me the chance.”

Kunimi stares at Kindaichi’s face, much closer than usual and staring right back at him. He takes in the fragile desperation in his eyes, the sweat tracking down his face and along his jaw, and wonders if it’s okay to hope for this to be real. Kindaichi’s death grip on his shoulders is certainly helping to prove that he’s not dreaming, at least.

He sighs. “Alright. Try to win me over, then.”

“Really?”

Kunimi’s heart stutters at the hopeful expression that blooms on Kindaichi’s face. He shoves his hand into that face to hide his blush and slips out of Kindaichi’s hold.

“Sure, whatever. Now let’s go back before the bus leaves without us. You should go first, or else the others might think we’ve been making out or something back here.”

“M-m-making—?”

“What do you think ‘going out’ means? Now hurry up.” Kunimi smacks Kindaichi on the back and all but shoves him out into the larger hallway. Once he’s out of view, Kunimi lets out a low groan and slides down the wall until he hits the floor. His face is hot and his heart is beating a mile a minute.

**Author's Note:**

> heehee hoohoo heres another attempt at a multichaptered thing, unbeta'd bc its almost 4am here
> 
> this time i actually have it mostly laid out all the way to the end, so it'll just be a matter of me having the energy to write it all down in Real Story form. otherwise i can probably just. post my notes about it so you know how it ends #noRules
> 
> hope people are staying safe and staying inside and all that


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